The Beatles and Their Watches - Part V: The Apple Watch
The Apple Boutique was a shop in Marylebone, London at 94 Baker Street (not far from where the fictional Sherlock Holmes allegedly lived). It was open from December 7, 1967 until July 31, 1968, less than eight months. Opening soon after the summer of love, the shop's philosophy followed that of the swinging '60s: "a beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things!" ~ Paul McCartney. For a brief time it had a paint job in keeping with that vibe.
As a business venture of the Beatles' fledgling Apple Corps (a pun on "apple core"), the Apple Boutique was designed to sell fashion garments and accessories including ... watches!
For the lucky few, a watch was designed by Richard Loftus featuring the Apple Corps' Granny Smith apple logo. It was manufactured by "Old England Watches Ltd. 1967". Featuring a black suede wristband embossed in gold on verso, the watch was sold exclusively at the Apple Boutique in Marylebone.
At auction in 2015 two examples owned by Ringo Starr fetched the princely sums of $7,040 and ... $2,560. The second example was slightly used. The first looks to have been quite well preserved. Comparable pieces not known to be owned by Beatles have sold at auction for around $500.
In April 1976 three men named Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne formed a partnership and called it Apple Computer Company, so named because of Jobs's obsession with the Beatles. Later incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc., it would go on to become the world's biggest company by market capitalization in 2022.
Apple Corps. and Apple Inc. would ultimately be engaged in decades of litigation (a post for a different forum), but in essence, in some bizarre way we all have The Beatles to thank for the first Apple Watch. And so does Moser!
There's nothing you can sell that can't be sold.
Wm Shakespeare
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part I: The Pateks
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part II: The Accurists
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part III: Cartier & Breitling
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IV: Ringo Starr
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part V: The Apple Watch
The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VI: Sir Paul’s Casio
The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VII: The Pocket Watches
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part VIII: Raymond Weil
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IX: Joey Ramone's Apple Watch
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part X: Jimmie Nicol's Watch
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XI: Yellow Submarine
The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XII: John Lennon's STOLEN Patek Found! (Updated)
All the world’s a stage we’re going through.
It's wild that they were both similar shapes!!!
Neat! I've got an Old England "Motor Wrist" watch with the VW logo from the early 70s. I know they made metric butt tonnes of licensed watches back in the day.
Neat! I've got an Old England "Motor Wrist" watch with the VW logo from the early 70s. I know they made metric butt tonnes of licensed watches back in the day.
This is fabulous! (And horrific ... in line with the original Apple Watch).
Neat! I've got an Old England "Motor Wrist" watch with the VW logo from the early 70s. I know they made metric butt tonnes of licensed watches back in the day.
And in that mode ... how do I find one of these!?
And in that mode ... how do I find one of these!?
When you find out please let me know!
Ever encounter one of these? Saw one recently at a sale but not sure if it was worth picking up: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-beatles-watch-1960s-four-412314578
Ever encounter one of these? Saw one recently at a sale but not sure if it was worth picking up: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-beatles-watch-1960s-four-412314578
Yowsa! What a sight! I have not ever seen one. There are a lot of unlicensed products out there pretending to be legitimate.